Kathleen Kennedy, the current president of Lucasfilm has been working hard in the past few years since Disney bought Lucasfilm from George Lucas in 2012. Under Kennedy’s leadership Star Wars has been reintroduced to the world with great success. With a $2 billion grossing film, a popular animated series, many books on the best seller list and top-selling comic book series, Star Wars is well and truly back as a media powerhouse once again. Now with the first of what should be many spin-off movies, Rogue One, set to debut next month, Star Wars is opening doors to new parts of the galaxy. Along with the talented Star Wars Story Group to hold every story/narrative aspect together, an increased focus on diverse casts to better represent the world around them has been brought to all the new content. Most notably the choices to have women in the lead roles of the first two new films.

Even though there was some criticism from certain Star Wars fans about the choice to cast female lead in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story after Rey led the story in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Kennedy responded in the perfect manner.

“I have a responsibility to the company that I work with. I don’t feel that I have a responsibility to cater in some way [to those particular fans], I would never just seize on saying, ‘Well, this is a franchise that’s appealed primarily to men for many, many years, and therefore I owe men something.'”

Kathleen Kennedy was hand-picked by Star Wars creator, George Lucas himself to carry on his legacy into the future. Kennedy had honed her skills as a producer having worked with Lucas, Steven Spielberg and her husband Frank Marshall. In Lucas’ opinion Kennedy was the perfect choice to take hold of the reins as he opted to sell Lucasfilm to Disney.

Following the foundation of the Galactic Empire, a wayward band of Rebel fighters come together to carry out a desperate mission: to steal the plans for the Death Star before it can be used to enforce the Emperor’s rule.